I'm a mother who is Jewish, a feminist, a writer, a researcher, and a breast cancer survivor, among other things... Here are some things that I'm thinking about that might be interesting to you as well...

Thursday, March 13, 2014

I first learned about it last night on Facebook, which is arguably a weird source for news, but there it was: "This evening, Gaza terrorists fired more than 30 rockets at Israeli communities." Checking a more reliable news source, I found out that, indeed, over 40 rockets had been fired from Gaza into communities in southern Israel.

The Code Red siren was sounded in several southern Israeli communities.
Residents were instructed by the IDF to remain in bomb shelters.

I traveled in Israel about a year ago, and our group visited some of these communities in the south of Israel that are frequently attacked by rockets from Gaza. In particular, we toured a town called Sderot that is the closest town to Gaza. Every home has a safe room. Every bus stop is built of reinforced concrete and looks like a bunker. Every school and park has shelters. The reason? Try to imagine that at any moment, you could hear an alarm that means that you have 15 seconds to get to a bomb-proof shelter. 15 seconds. Then the bombs fall.

These videos are hard to watch. They make my stomach clench. But you should watch them.

The situation has improved recently. There are less attacks. But each time one happens, the result is the same. Everyone runs to the shelters, and it's terrifying. How can people live like this? Should they be expected to live like this?